Aloha
by Traw
Summary: A detective leaves Five-O.


"Want another one?" Danny asked, nodding towards the empty glass Ben held in his hand.

"Yeah." Ben answered before taking a quick sip to empty the last few amber drops from the bottom of the glass as Danny turned towards the barman and held up two fingers in a silent order for two more straight bourbons.

"Did you hear they offered me a promotion and a desk job back at HPD?" Ben asked softly as he watched the barman approach with their drinks.

Waiting until the barman had placed the drinks on the table in front of them and walked away before he spoke, Danny nodded slowly, "I heard. Are you going to take it?"

The Samoan detective shrugged as he picked up his drink and took a large gulp, wincing as the strong liquor burned the back of his throat. "It would mean more money, and with Sue and the kids but…"

"It's not Five-O." Danny finished for him.

"Yeah..." Ben sighed.

"Steve is still trying to find a way for you to stay on the team."

"It wouldn't work." Ben answered honestly as he took another sip of his drink. "It would be a desk job and would be worse than if I accepted the one at HPD. I mean, it would kill me watching you guys out in the field while I am on the beach in the office."

"You know Steve still blames himself for what happened." Danny said softly as he played with his drink before he looked back up at his friend and asked, "Do you?"

"Wasn't his fault, Bruddah." Ben answered, dropping his eyes to stare into his drink, "We all know it's part of the risks that come with the job."

"I know." Danny breathed softly, "Doesn't mean that we have to like it!"

"My father-In-law has offered me the manager's position at his fish cannery business back in Samoa." Ben announced, quietly changing the too sensitive subject as Danny lifted his glass to his lips and took a small sip.

"You aren't going to accept it, are you?" Danny frowned, slamming the glass down on the table, not noticing as the alcohol in the glass splashed over his hand.

"I am handing Steve my resignation in the morning." Ben confessed quietly as he lifted the glass up to his lips. "I am going to take Sue and the kids back home to her family." He explained before draining the half-filled glass in a single gulp and lowering the glass back down onto the table. "We are going to need all the family support we can get after what happened."

"But you have family here, Ben, we are your ohana." Danny pleaded with his friend not to leave. "Steve, Chin, Jenny and I will always be here whenever Sue and you need us."

"Mahalo, but you have your own lives to live, Danny." Ben smiled sadly across at his closest friend, "Chin has his family, Jenny has her boyfriend and Steve has you."

Danny frowned in confusion, uncertain if he had heard what his friend had said correctly, "Steve has me?"

"We all know that McGarrett needs you by his side, Danny. You are the one who keeps him from burying himself in work and everyone else in the office with him. You are one of the most important people in Steve's life. I can see it in his eyes every time he looks at you. It's something he can't hide, no matter how much he tries. You're more than his closest friend or his Second-in- Command. you're his kaikaina, Danny, his little brother, his ohana, and he's your kaikua'ana, and it's a role Steve takes seriously. Anyway Bruddah, I have already told my father-in-law yes. That's why I wanted us to have drinks tonight so I could tell you before I tell the others."

"And that's it?" Danny asked softly.

"That's it, Bruddah, sometimes life takes us in a different direction." Ben answered quietly before nodding towards the empty glass in Danny's hand. "Are you finished?"

Danny nodded slowly, still in disbelief that Ben had decided to leave.

"Then let's get out of here." Ben forced a small smile. "Sue will be waiting for us- she wants you to come for dinner."

Silently rising from his seat, Danny pulled out his wallet, dropping several dollar bills onto the table before he turned and began to clear chairs out of the way for Ben to maneuver his wheelchair out of the bar.


End file.
